The joint venture between US retail giant Wal-Mart and India’s Bharti Enterprises has opened its first wholesale store in Amritsar, Punjab.
Saturday’s opening of the first Best Price Modern Wholesale store has been delayed for about a week due to unrelated protests in the region.
“We have put in a lot of planning and preparation over the past 12 months and are delighted all the hard work will now bear fruit as we open the doors of our first cash-and-carry store in India,” said Wal-Mart India head Raj Jain.
The new store will carry 6,000 food and non-food product lines at ‘competitive wholesale prices’, said Wal-Mart.
Best Price Modern Wholesale has already attracted some big customers; the Indian army has registered with the store to purchase goods for its Amritsar division.
“I am here on the behalf of the Army to purchase goods for the non-CSD canteen in our cantonment in Amritsar. The rates are much lower (than the local distributors),” said Col AS Nakai, one of Best Price’s first customers.
Also registered are the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), Virka and DAV schools, with membership for the cash-and-carry store already at 30,000, reported The Economy Times.
